A Kouga Story : My First Mate
by Moon's Envoy
Summary: After the final battle with Naraka, Kouga has begun to withdraw from his pack and is slowly losing his Alpha position. The arrival of a human girl named Chiara and her two adopted pups doesn't seem to bode much good at first, and things seem to be going from bad to worse fast. Will Kouga be able to realize that he needs to step up his game, or will he be beaten by a human girl?
1. You'll Be In My Heart

|Summer|

Chiara trotted up the dirt path to the top of the hill, where the Priest had asked her to go and take a look at what had happened. He had heard a lot of noise there last night, but because he couldn't go and check it out for himself he'd sent the shipwrecked girl. Nervously she touched the prayer slips in the pouch at her hip, chewing her lip as she went along.

'Better not be a demon. I'd rather have a tangle with a hammerhead shark than get involved with a demon.' She mumbled to herself.

Arriving at the top she took an awkward look around. The sea could be heard, waves sloshing lazily in the hot afternoon as crickets buzzed heavily. There were signs of a struggle, but so far she couldn't make out any sign of what had happened. At least, until she came across the severed head of something that looked like an overgrown bear. She threw a stone at it from a distance, not trusting it one bit. It wouldn't be the first time a supposedly dead demon reared up and took a bite out of someone who was stupid enough to come close.

When it didn't move, she straightened her back as she wiped sweaty, red locks out of her face. The heat of the sun was really droning it down. She would kill for a sea breeze right now.

Something whined behind her. The sweat on her back went icy cold in a heartbeat as she shut her eyes closed. This could be it, any moment something could take a bite out of her and end her young life prematurely.

The whine behind her became more insistent, urgent. She turned her head to where the sound was coming from. At the foot of a tree a wolf was looking at her, blue eyes steady on her. It hadn't attacked her, yet. But judging from the size of it, it was probably demonic. She just hoped it wasn't hungry.

'I'm very sorry for disturbing you, o wolf.' She managed to bring out stammering. The Japanese words still felt strange in her mouth, as if they didn't quite fit there. 'I will be leaving now.'

A growl stopped her in her tracks. Then the wolf started to whine, almost pleading for her to come closer. She started to discuss with herself if she would be able to outrun a grown wolf, and decided against it. Running away might make it angry.

'Please.' A female voice sounded from behind her. She moaned inwardly. The wolf could talk, ergo, really was demonic. Just what had she signed up for?

She walked closer to where the wolf was panting, pausing when she was close enough to see what had happened. Horrible gashes ran across the wolf's sides, and Chiara thought that she could see exposed muscle and flesh through the black fur. The wolf sounded like she was having trouble breathing. Chiara let herself drop to her knees next to it, deciding that once she had come this far turning back was no longer possible.

'Can I… Can I help?' she asked, surveying the wounds. Blood caked the fur and soaked the ground where she was kneeling, through her rough linen pants. Blue eyes found hers, and the words the wolf spoke were clearly a strain.

'My cubs… are they alive?'

Startled Chiara looked around, and indeed, between the she-wolfs paws there were three pups. One of the pups wasn't moving anymore, and the other two hardly seemed to be any better. Chiara swallowed once.

'They're fine. All of them.' she lied.

The wolf let her head sink to the ground, letting out a wheeze. The news seemed to have reassured her.

'Human… bring them… to the Yourouzoku wolves. My clan.' The wolf wrung each word out of a mouth that was never meant for human words.

'Please, don't speak. You're only making it harder on yourself.' Chiara said, holding up her hands.

The wolf snorted, almost amused. 'Already dying. Almost there. My cubs… save them, human.'

Chiara looked towards the pups again. She, take care of demon pups? She thought about herself, washed up on a strange shore. If the Priests hadn't taken care of her… the pang of guilt and gratitude she felt about that helped her make a decision.

'I'll do it.' She said.

'Promise.' The she-wolf demanded.

'I'll get your puppies to their family. I promise.' She answered again, looking over the wolf in concern.

The wolf closed her eyes. Her breathing was getting more shallow, and her paws started to relax.

'Name?' the she-wolf asked.

'Chiara. Chiara Nurmi.' She replied.

The wolf's mouth moved slightly, as if to say something more, before going slack. Chiara waited on her knees for a few more moments before she realized nothing more would be coming. Gingerly she moved towards the silent cubs, hesitating before she touched the biggest one.

A soft mewl, just the tiniest breath of it escaped the pup. Despite the hot sun beating down on them, its skin was colder than ice against her hands. Her heart jolted as she touched the other two. One of them had stopped it's breathing altogether. She scooped them up, placing them in her shirt against her heart. Apart from a few soft whimpers they were quiet. With a grim face she left the body of the she-wolf and the dead cub behind, making her way down again with a heavy heart.

That night the two siblings slept, safely sheltered from the outside world by the body that was warmly wrapped around them. They were blind to the world, only having their noses to orient them. Every breath brought confusing information, the salt of the sea, smoke and other, even stranger scents. Frightened the younger one let out a whining, slightly louder than hours before.

The one wrapped around them made noises. Warm hands closed around them, keeping them close. The heartbeat sounding next to them hushed them to sleep, safe and close to their protector. Soothed by this presence the younger one fell back to sleep after a final whimper.

_Come stop your crying, It will be all right _

_Just take my hand, Hold it tight _

_I will protect you, From all around you _

_I will be here, Don't you cry_

_For one so small, You seem so strong _

_My arms will hold you, Keep you safe and warm_

|Fall|

'Could you make it some more, please?' Chiara asked the rice vendor politely. She had been able to catch more fish than usual, tempting her to visit a village to trade for rice or vegetables. It would make a welcome addition to the daily fare of fish and berries. When the man handed her the rice, he informed about her catch.

'I can make my own nets.' She replied with a smile, tucking the rice in her side satchel. She could feel the two wolf pups moving in the bigger bag on her back and prayed that they would stay asleep.

'There's good money to be had for a craftsman, even if it's a woman.' The man answered at that. 'If you're interested, you should go inform with old Tanaka in town.'

'Oh… thank you for telling me. By the way, do you happen to know if there are demons in the area? Wolves in particular?' she ventured, her eyes locking on a man selling rabbits nearby. Perhaps instead of vegetables, she ought to get something for the little ones.

'Not that I know of. Haven't been any wolves in this area for almost a year now. Why?' the man asked.

'I heard howling last night, and was a bit worried.' She smiled, moving towards the man with the rabbits.

Halfway over there, one of the pups in the bag started to whine loudly. People nearby her stared as she tried to feign it wasn't her bag that was making all of the noise. Already the pups were looking more like wolves than dogs. Her face flushed as she tried to purchase one of the dead rabbits of the man, when a monk tapped her on the shoulder. She turned towards the man, keeping her head low.

'Yes, monk?'

'Young miss… your bag seems to be howling.' The monk spoke to her, hand reaching to the cleansing seals on his belt. 'Would you mind if I inspect it?'

'Look, it's a puppy!' a young child cried out from among the crowd. One of the wolves had gotten his head out of the bag, she realized.

'Watch out, that's a demon!' another man yelled. The monk was preparing to throw the sutra at her bag when she slapped him in the face.

'Don't you dare!' she warned him as a farmer came closer, holding a shovel in his hands.

Meanwhile the cry 'demon' was going through the village, causing her to look around for an exit. Desperately she gave the monk a push, using his body to make a way through the crowd. She heard the wolves protest loudly when she ran away from the village. Most people were too scared or confused to follow, and by the time she had ducked in one of the side streets nobody would have been able to tell where she had gone.

After a bit of waiting she wrapped an old shirt around her bright red hair, hiding it from sight. The pups hadn't stopped their efforts at getting out until she had opened up the flap, letting them lick her face for a short while.

'You have to keep quiet now, Valto, Aappi. They'll catch us if you don't.' The wolves kept up their complaining but settled down soon enough.

As soon as she was far away from the village she stopped near a stream, letting the pups catch some fresh air. She looked at them as she leant her head on one hand.

'Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now, or rather, the wolf?'

The pups looked at her and whined again, opening their mouths as if something was wrong with them. Softly muttering she grabbed Valto, the pup with the darkest black fur.

'Come on, open up. How am I going to know what your problem is if you don't show me?' The struggle ended when she rolled Valto on his back with Aappi sitting on his haunches next to them, observing the operation. When she looked in the opened maw, she could see a white sliver off bone coming up from beneath the gums.

'You're teething. No wonder the two of you couldn't keep still. I'll have to find some safe chew toys for the two of you.' When the pups kept yipping and turning around her, she finally decided to give it a shot. This time having Aappi open his mouth, she offered a knuckle to the pup to suckle on. After a few awkward starts, he soon got the hang of it, giving his brother a reason to start imitating him. She bit her tongue so she wouldn't cry out when Valto chomped down a bit too hard. She looked at the two of them with a loving smile.

'You two really are helpless after all.'

Aappi wagged his tail in appreciation for Mother to see how much she was helping with his pain. Aappi and Valto loved their mother from the depths of their tiny hearts, ever since the first time they had seen her. She had made the pain go away now, just like she made cold and hunger disappear. Though she didn't seem to understand them that much, she was always there for them. Next to him Valto also wagged his tail, looking up to Mother's face. They had been scared when she showed her teeth at first, but those moments were always followed with petting and kisses, so now they'd come to liked it when Mother showed teeth. Mother really was wonderful.

_This bond between us, Can't be broken _

_I will be here, Don't you cry _

_'Cause you'll be in my heart, Yes, you'll be in my heart _

_From this day on, Now and forever more_

_You'll be in my heart, No matter what they say _

_You'll be here in my heart, always_

|Winter|

Chiara kept her two cubs safely underneath the stolen cape as she moved through the sudden blizzard. They had ventured near a town long enough to see the cape be blown away towards the forest, and now it was making itself useful in keeping the two ever-growing cubs safely tucked against her arms. The bag had given out a long time ago after its constant use.

Her feet were freezing without shoes, and the snow had only been falling for about ten minutes. Then again, it was hard to tell in this kind of weather. Maybe she had been wandering around for days without noticing. She had lost the road a long time ago and worried if she might be leading her two rascals to death.

Aappi whined, sticking his nose in the air towards the left. Valto soon did the same, causing her to change her course towards where the sensitive little noses were pointing, dragging her feet through the snow. If they survived this and they kept growing as they did, she wouldn't be able to carry them in her arms some more weeks time. She hoped they would live to see that moment.

She stopped her walking in front of the opening of a cave. Was this where their noses had led them? Chewing her lip she eyed the entrance as she decided that whatever was in there was not as sure to kill them as the weather outside, if there was anything at all. Placing the pups down they raced inside, letting her drag herself behind them. When she heard excited barks she hurried up, before she slipped in a pool of blood.

'Valto! Aappi! Come back here!' she shouted, alarmed by the blood. The brothers came running back, blue eyes blazing when they heard her shouting her name. She grabbed the both of them by the skin on their necks, looking around the cave to see what had caused the blood. Valto let out an impatient yelp.

'Valto.' She muttered with a warning hint in her voice. The wolf didn't let off, almost dragging her towards the cause of her excitement. She almost wanted to be back in the snow. Taking care of two demons hadn't exactly made her more optimistic about her chances of not being eaten by one.

When she saw what had been the cause of the trail of blood she bit the inside of her cheek. The scene of a deer with a broken leg inside the cave made her think back to the time she had found the two pups with their mother. The animal tried to reel back from the two young wolves around her, but was unable to stand. She signed the two of them to stand back while she was thinking.

She had a knife. She always used it to clean fish, which was a pretty easy task when you got used to it. Behind her Aappi and Valto were whining, and to her shame she felt her own stomach rumble as well. The deer looked at her with pleading eyes, while behind her the two wolves sent their own pleads to their adoptive mother.

'It'll be like killing a fish.' She told herself. But that was a lie, and she knew it. Fish didn't look at you like that when you were about to kill them. 'It's dead anyway, with that leg. And I need to feed those two.'

The sounds the two wolves were making sent her over the edge, as well as her pity for the animal's obvious mortification of the prey animals. While it still struggled to get away from her, she walked up briskly, forbidding herself to look at it closely. If she looked too long, she wouldn't be able to go through with it.

The deer screeched when the knife pierced next to the artery in her neck as Chiara dived towards her. When it jerked away from her the artery was sliced through, sending hot blood pumping in the cave. Chiara crawled back, away from the deer in its last moments. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, biting her lip hard.

The wolves started to lick her cheeks, washing away the blood. She thought that perhaps she should hate these demons for what she had done, but she had done it out of her own free will. If she had to choose between the life of a dear or her two cubs, she'd choose them any day of the week. They kept whining at her, asking her to help them feed. With shaky legs she got up towards the warm body that was still lying there.

Valto accepted the small bits of cut meat from Mother, waiting for more to come. Even with his fangs, he still didn't have the strength to pull the meat from bone like Mother did with the long fang she used to slice in prey. He wanted to be a strong hunter, like Mother. He practiced every day together with his brother, running whenever they had the chance. Licking the next load of cut meat from Mother's palm, he was satisfied that at least he and brother had helped her in locating this prey.

Aappi continued to lick Mother clean when he wasn't being fed. His body was still growing, and sometimes his paws didn't go where he wanted them to go. He rubbed his face against that of Valto, before curling up to sleep. The two wolves watched as Mother continued to use her fang to cut up the prey.

_Why can't they understand The way we feel? _

_They just don't trust What they can't explain _

_I know we're different but, Deep inside us _

_We're not that different at all_

_Don't listen to them, 'Cause what do they know? _

_We need each other, To have, to hold _

_They'll see in time, I know_

|Spring|

'Wait up you guys!' Chiara yelled, struggling up the hill after the two troublemakers. Aappi waited for her, dark brown fur nearly invisible against the undergrowth of the forest. He always had been the most insecure one, a real momma's pup. He let out a yip, before throwing his head to where his brother had disappeared to. He reached up to her knee now, looking up at her with the blue eyes that had never changed their color. She wiped her hair away from her eyes, thinking to herself that she really did need to cut it sooner or later.

Valto rushed back to them a few seconds later, tripping over his own paws when he tried to stop in front of them. He laid something at her feet, before wiggling back with his butt sticking in the air, pleading for her to say kind words. When she looked down, she saw a tiny, light brown shape lying in the dirt before her.

'A mouse?' she asked the wolf.

He let out a high-pitched bark, tail wagging as he looked up at her. When Aappi sniffed at the dead mouse he was rewarded with a growl from his brother.

'Did you catch this, Valto?' she asked, surprised. The wolf answered with another deep bark.

She dropped to her knees, holding her arms open. The wolf leapt closer, eager for the praise and affection she would give him. She told him how proud she was of him, and what a good hunter he was. When she tried to give him the mouse back, he pushed against her hand.

'For me?' she asked him. He licked her hand, before putting his head on her knee. Aappi snorted at this display of sucking up, and trotted off, in search of his own mouse to offer to Mother. She rubbed her nose against that of Valto, thoroughly thanking him and making a show of how grateful she was for the catch.

After he had received enough praise, he slunk off after his brother. She didn't worry about them that much anymore. She knew that they would stay close to her. She hiked further up the path, ruminating what she should do with the mouse. For the time being, she could store it in the run-down satchel at her waist.

When she arrived at the top, she was rewarded with a beautiful sunset. Bright orange light swept over the land, almost setting fire to the trees and the grass. The two wolves returned to her side after she called, showing them where they would be sleeping that night. They sat next to her, one to each side as she was watching the sun set.

'No luck, Aappi?' she asked the brown wolf. He let out a small yelp, leaning his head on her shoulder.

Valto let out a snort when he heard, leaning against her with his body. She wrapped her arms around her two boys, who seemed to be happy for the moment with just sitting there.

Caught by the moment, she started to howl at the setting sun. It probably was a pitiful sound, but it just felt right. Valto joined in, not sounding much better. Aappi held his howl a little bit longer, but still faltered after a few seconds. When she howled again, both pups fell in with their mother.

The wolves howled for the red of the sun that resembled the hair of Mother, and because She still smelled as salty as the day they had been born. A clean, strong and piercing smell, mixed with their own. They howled for the scent of the pack, for the promise of a new hunt the next day, the discovery of new smells and sights.

Chiara howled because she had started to feel a little bit wolfish at that moment, and most importantly, because she couldn't believe how she could love her two little troublemakers so much, so fiercely.

_When destiny calls you, You must be strong _

_I may not always be with you, But you've got to hold on _

_They'll see in time _

_I know _

_We'll show them together_

_I'll be with you, I'll be there for you always _

_Always and always _

_Just look over your shoulder _

_Just look over your shoulder _

_Just look over your shoulder _

_I'll be there, always_


	2. Puffer Fish

|The Wolf Den|

Kouga looked down at the valley that stretched out in front of him, trying to decide just where the demon that had been picking off so many of the remaining young wolves could be. Behind him Ginta and Hakkakku came running along, happy that they could go on a small adventure again. They'd gotten quite a taste for it since the events with Naraku had ended.

Kouga clenched his teeth as he thought about that asshole. Naraku was responsible for the sorry state the pack was in now. Hundreds of wolves had been killed by him, and his pack had not been spared of any casualties. All that was left in his care were some Elders and young whelps that had been too young to fight the intruder.

'I'm going alone.' He announced, finally deciding on a direction he hadn't paid much attention to yet. Since he had forbidden anyone to go out alone, especially anyone that wasn't a bona fide warrior yet, the demon had been growing bolder in his attacks. Kouga was planning on taking him out before he attacked any more people.

'B-b-but Kouga!' Ginta protested, with Hakkakku making faint objecting noises next to him. His two longtime companions seemed to be truly upset with letting him leave alone. Didn't they see he was doing this to do them a favor?

'I said, I'm going alone. Stay here and keep a lookout, in case that monster gets past me somehow.' He ordered, his tail giving a quick flick to emphasize his words. There wasn't a chance that would happen, but he had to give them an inkling of purpose. He watched some of the younger men, barely old enough to transform, walk around the entrance to the den. One of the bolder ones, Jodo, stared at Kouga in a way that he would have interpreted as a challenge at any other time. He made a mental note to see if the younger male was planning on giving him a hard time later on.

He started to run down the path, towards the valley their den oversaw. He made some good speed, but still he couldn't help miss the Shikon shards. They had been helpful at times, even if at the end of the run they'd proven to be more trouble than they were worth. Casting the thoughts of the jewel shards - and the added notion of Kagome – out of his head, he sniffed the air for clues.

Most of the scents were the usual ones; water, trees and wildlife filling these parts. But smoke wasn't something that just hovered around in the valley. On top of that, the smell seemed to mix with the heavy scent of days old wolf blood. Had the demon somehow decided to start a fire? Or was he nearby someone who had started a fire in his woods?

|Some Hours Later|

It had taken him longer than expected to track down the sources of the scents. He'd realized that his latter guess had been the correct one the closer he had gotten. Deciding that the smoke source should be inspected first, he headed that way. The smell of blood was close as well, and if the demon picked up on Kouga's wolf scent, he'd probably come running in an attempt to devour him.

And there was the added interest that with the scent of smoke there had been the additional scent of a strange pack. It couldn't be an actual _new _pack, there weren't enough numbers left for any group to split up. So who was spreading this smell?

The closer he got, the slower he went forward, moving in the trees so he wouldn't startle any of the newcomers. He could hear sounds in front of him, though most of them were incomprehensible. He could make out from the tone however that someone was getting scolded.

Close enough to see the scene playing in the clearing, Kouga couldn't quite believe what his eyes were telling him. A woman was using a stick to fend off a black wolf, while a dark grey one watched what was happening with a mild interest, tail slowly moving back and forth across the ground.

'Valto! Let go of that spear, I spent an hour sharpening it up to catch our dinner! Valto!' she grunted the last word lying on the ground as the wolf proudly pranced off with the stick in his mouth. Still lying there she propped up her head with one hand, looking amused with the situation. Her red hair seemed to glow up in the light of the small fire she had started.

'Give that back here, or you can go fishing in my place. We'll see how enthusiastic you'll be then.'

The wolf gave a snort at the suggestion, moving back to the human. She got up to her knees, mumbling some stern words at him in a foreign language. The wolf cowered down, before rolling on his back. Kouga nearly fell out of the tree when he saw what the young wolf was conveying.

'I'm sorry Mother! I was bored, and wanted to play with you. Don't be angry, never be angry with me.' The message was so pleading, Kouga wasn't surprised the woman seemed to get it as well. With a few soothing words she gestured the wolf to join the other one before she started rummaging in the tattered bag she had with her.

'I told you you'd make Mother angry like a barrel of sea monkeys.' The gray one told his brother named Valto. There was a sense of amusement in the wolf's message, as if he were gloating that he hadn't been the one to make the human angry.

'Mother forgave me, because she loves us. Nothing bad happened.' Valto replied with a soft whine, as if he wasn't quite so sure about being forgiven. 'I'll give her my next mouse, then she'll forgive me everything.'

'You two be good, okay?' the woman, 'Mother', said.

Kouga couldn't believe what the wolves had been saying. Why would they be calling a human that? Why would two whelps listen to anything she had to say? He had a mind to get down there and restore order like a true Alpha.

Something rustled in the bushes opposite the wolves. Kouga cursed when he realized the demon had snuck up on them while he had been too busy looking at what was happening in the clearing. The woman let out a shriek as the two young wolves started to snarl at the intruder. Kouga watched for a few more seconds as the woman moved in front of the two wolves, swearing at the intruder.

Jumping from the tree he launched himself at the demon. The smell of wolf blood hung around it, almost like some sort of cloak. The demon saw him coming, lifting a pale, grey hand as if he wanted to swat the wolf leader away like a fly.

Kouga smashed through the hand, severing it from the owner. In the same breath he lunged for the throat, cutting through arteries as if they were air. Blood spouted from the large demon as it reached for the slash with the stump of his hand. Kouga smirked when he saw it falling backwards, pleased at having slain such a troublesome demon so quickly.

His pleasure didn't last long. He let out a growl when something hard whacked him across the side of the head. Turning around he just managed to dodge the stick aimed for his face. The human woman was attacking him now?

'You stupid demon, I won't let you take them! Take this, you overgrown puffer fish!' she shouted at him, grey eyes flashing with fury as she pressed her attack. He dodged backwards, keeping a mindful look at her two growling companions.

'Listen, I'm not attacking you! I just came here for the other guy!' he yelled back, frustrated that his rescuing her wasn't being met with a bit more warmth. She stopped swinging the stick, but still kept it pointed at his face. Her face was flushed with exertion, arms trembling slightly with panic. The scent of fear came off of her in strong wafts, along with the unmistakable scent of salt and sand.

'Why should I believe you?' she asked, eyes squinted at him. He kept back a growl as she continued to look straight into his eyes, a direct questioning of his dominant position.

'Because you can see what I did with the other guy. And I don't need to explain myself to you, you're in my valley for crying out loud!' he did growl the last part at her, if only because he didn't like the way she was being so very suspicious about him. He had just saved her tail for crying out loud!

Her eyes flashed to the huge grey body that was right behind Kouga. 'You say this is your valley? Do you know the Yourouzoko?'

Kouga scoffed. 'Of course I know them. I'm their Alpha, you stupid woman. Or didn't you notice I'm a wolf demon? More importantly, why are you looking for my pack?'

She lowered her spear, glancing over Kouga's body quickly. Her eyes settled on his tail for a few seconds, before flickering to his ears and eyes, and then settled back on his tail. The two wolves behind her seemed to inspect him just as much, sniffing the air as they did so.

'Well, that's a long story. I'll tell you over dinner, if that's okay with you?'

Kouga nodded, surprised that the woman could be sensible as well.

|Later|

Kouga had gotten tired of waiting for the woman to catch enough fish for him, herself and two young wolves, so he'd gone to catch a deer while ordering her to make the fire big enough to roast the meat. She had seemed surprised at his attitude, but set herself to the task with the air of someone who was used to taking orders. While the two young wolves devoured the meat raw – without a single bit of appreciation – Kouga and the strange woman waited for the meat to roast.

'So, what's the long story?' Kouga asked, casting a sideways glance at the wolves. They had chosen the part of the circle around the fire where the woman was sitting, bloody muzzles looking up every time he said a word. From the communication between them, he could make up they didn't trust him.

She ran a hand through her hair, looking at her companions as well. 'Well, I'll give you the short version of it. A little less than two years ago, I found a dying she-wolf with her cubs. These guys over here, Valto and Aappi.' she cast a loving glance on the two gluttons next to her. They looked up when they heard their names, but when she didn't say anything directly to them, they continued eating.

'So, I felt sorry for her, and for them. And I ended up promising her that I would bring her children back to their pack, so that they could be real wolves. It was like riding a shark whale trying to find you though. You're actually the first wolf demon I've laid my eyes on. If you don't count my guys here. Thanks.' She added the last part as Kouga offered her a strip of roasted meat.

He watched as she tore long pieces of it, hardly chewing at all. The two young wolves didn't seem too skinny, but it was obvious she had lost a few pounds too many during her trip. When she noticed him watching her like that, she stopped tearing off the meat, chewing her mouthful more thoughtful. She apologized for her behaviour as soon as she had swallowed.

'Don't worry about it.' He grinned. 'I've seen worse in the pack.' Though not that much worse to be honest. He observed her as she rubbed off her mouth with a sleeve that had seen so many repairs that he doubted there was anything of the original fabric left.

'What's with their weird names though? And what's yours?' he added as an afterthought. The situation was peculiar, no matter how it was turned. She had to swallow another piece of venison before she was able to reply to that question.

'I'm Chiara. And those aren't weird names. They're perfectly normal where I come from.' She haughtily answered him, giving him a hard stare for that comment. 'What's your name then, if it's so normal?'

'I'm Kouga, Alpha of the Yourouzoko pack.' He replied proudly. When he saw her taste the word 'Alpha' on her tongue as if she had never heard of it before, he added 'That's like a sort of leader, or a prince.'

Her face lit up when she heard that. 'Ah, now I get it. You're the captain on your ship then!'

Kouga gave her a quizzical look, taking a huge bite from his own piece of meat. He wasn't sure what a captain, or a ship, was but he didn't plan on admitting his ignorance. Quiet returned to the clearing as everybody was eating.

Kouga mulled over everything he had learned so far. The woman, Chiara, was a foreigner who had obvious difficultu speaking Japanese. On top of that, the words she did know seemed to belong to some sort of jargon he hadn't the faintest clue about. She'd promised a she-wolf from his tribe to bring her pups to this valley. And from the looks of it, she wasn't really that good at taking care of herself.

He stopped his chewing when he heard her ask a question. 'Come again?' he asked.

'You'll take them then? Valto and Aappi, I mean.' She looked sad somehow, asking that question. Did she think he would refuse the pups?

'We'll take them. After all, they're probably better off with us than with you, right?' he added, thinking she probably really wanted to get rid of the twosome. Somehow she didn't seem to cheer up hearing this.

'Alright. I'm going to sleep now, if that would be okay with you… we can go there tomorrow, no?' she asked him, already getting up and walking to a place with more grass.

'Uh… yeah.' He managed to bring out, really not able to place her facial expression. He would've thought a human would be thrilled about the current events.

Aappi snorted once, flicking his tail around agitatedly. 'You're upsetting Mother.' He announced to Kouga while his brother walked around the fire towards Kouga.

'I am not. We were just talking, that's all.' He defended himself, even more confused with the pup's reaction. Did he really think that the human was their mother? He decided to bring this to their attention. 'Anyway, she can't be your mother, she's not your species.'

Valto growled softly at that, casting a quick glance to an already asleep Chiara. 'Mother is Mother. You don't smell like her.'

Kouga coughed at this statement. 'Of course I don't, she's human! I'm a wolf, like you pups!' he was growing more annoyed with this every single second. He had not come here to start debating the race of two very obvious wolves.

'Wrong. Mother is wolf. You're not our species.' Aappi observed again, giving Kouga what could only be described as a warning glance. 'You're what she said. An overgrown puffer fish.' Valto agreed with his brother, taking another sniff at Kouga.

'I'm not a… a fish! I'm a wolf. See this? This is a tail!' he answered heatedly, not even caring about waking Chiara or not. This was getting ridiculous, how could these two possibly bring themselves to believe that the Alpha of this region was not a wolf. 'I'm the Alpha, I'm the most important wolf you'll see in these parts!'

Aappi seemed to consider these statements for a bit, while Valto moved away from the now standing Kouga. After a few moments Aappi let out an amused yip.  
'Fish don't have furry tails. You're a tanuki, trying to trick us!' he observed, seemingly pleased at having it figured out.

His brother huffed amused. 'If an Alpha is the most important wolf, then Mother is Alpha. And Alpha is Mother.'

'What are you guys doing?' Chiara's voice sounded across the clearing. When she spotted the two wolves standing around Kouga, she smiled softly, before patting the ground next to her. 'Let's go to sleep, okay? There's time enough for you all to talk tomorrow.'

The wolves walked away from Kouga, leaving the words 'Tanuki' and 'Puffer Fish' behind them. Kouga grabbed his pony tail in frustration, almost yanking it off his own head. Just what the hell was going on here?!

|The Day After|

'No, it's okay, we can run a little.' Chiara told him as she gathered her few possessions. 'I do it all the time with my… with these two, so I don't see why today should be different.'

Kouga nodded when he heard that, thinking about how far away the den was. Even if she managed to work up what was an easy trot for him, it would be evening by the time they were back. And the young wolves probably couldn't keep up with him either, so he had no choice but to stay with them so nothing attacked them on the way home.

A few minutes later he realized that even an easy trot was asking for too much. The human simply didn't have the energy to run at a pace he considered to be comfortable. To make things worse, the two pups stayed with her constantly, slowing his pace to what he thought was the speed a snail moved.

He waited for them to catch up, before finally giving in to the situation. 'You sure you're going to come all the way to the den? I mean, I'll make sure they get there, so you could just wander off already.'

She shook her head at the suggestion. 'No way! I brought them this far, I'm seeing this through to the end. Right guys?' she asked Aappi and Valto. The two gave an excited bark at the question that was asked with so much energy.  
'See?'

'I'll carry you then. We'll go a bit faster, so that should make things easier on all of us.' He offered, holding out a hand for her to take.

She backed away a bit, looking down at his hand with an expression he couldn't read. Distrust? Anger? Repulsion? She looked down at the two pups that called her mother again, and quickly wiped a hand across her eyes. Was she crying?

'Fine. I suppose that the faster this is done…' her voice trailed off, as she accepted his hand while she kept facing the ground.

Kouga's tail flicked in frustration, with both the girl and her unreadable emotions – she smelled sad, but that could just be because she smelt so salty, like tears – and the two pups that had bared their teeth at them the moment he stretched out a hand towards their 'Mother'.

This was going to be a long day.


End file.
